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Chapter 22 - Familial Secrets (CF)
Tubba learned the full story of what had happened in the execution ring from Dibby and Galmajo soon after landing near Shooting Star Summit. An anti-spirit spell had been cast over the Place of the Unruly, for Ludwig knew that they were allies with the Boos, judging by the chaos that had happened when they extricated the rest of Tubba’s friends from the Boo Mansion, but Dibby had found an ingenious workaround. Being a spirit herself, and among other spirits, they learned exactly how an anti-spirit spell worked. The spell was cast so that incomplete magical energy would be barred from entering the Place of the Unruly. What did that mean? When a species in the Mushroom World dies, the magical energy of the individual that dies begins to drain away, until, if possible and wanted, the individual returns as a ghost or a similar undead variant. The remaining magical essence would be what the ghost would carry for the rest of their existence, and if it was ever purged, they would cease to exist. However, it would be incomplete when compared to a living creature’s energy. So, if two spirits were to combine their energy, the energy would exceed the “level” expected of the spell, allowing them to smuggle their way into the fortress that was the Place of the Unruly. From there, Dibby met quietly in Blizzerd’s cell with the Wizzerd, with the Wizzerd held separately because of his immense magical capabilities. Although his abilities were deactivated, that did not mean his magical decoction ceased to exist. With only a certain amount of magical energy being able to contained by the chains, with Dibby’s essence absorbed into his own, it would unbind their magical abilities as it exceeded the limit of the chains - in ultimatum, the chains were attempting to bind two powerful magical essences with a chain designed for one powerful one. From there, Blizzerd carried Dibby into the execution ring, waiting for their moment to strike. When the moment was ripe, Dibby swept out of Blizzerd’s grasp, and weakened the chains binding Galmajo with her magic. The Magikoopa leapt free, tackled the execution Magikoopa and stole his wand - the source of the power of the Magikoopa - and cast a spell to send Roy careening to the floor, just as he was about to slam Karubba’s club onto Tubba’s head. Shooting Star Summit was just outside Toad Town, but it was not that occupied, for it was regarded as a sacred place, where the Star Spirits connected with the mortal realm. The rocks glowed an unsettling purple colour - Galmajo was confident that they were bioluminescent - and many star-shaped rocks lay embedded in the mountain. The trek up the mountain was very painful. Tubba refused to let anyone else carry Gonzales up the slopes, throwing the heavy body of his friend over his back, trudging slowly onward, his hands gripping Gonzales’ lifeless palms with anger. Strangely, the person he was most furious with was not Ludwig, the perpetrator of the execution. No, it was Chubba. To stand by and watch as his brother’s best friend was shot down... it made Tubba burn with rage. Eventually, close to the summit of the mountain as the moon rose into the sky, Tubba caught sight of a brilliant white marble shrine, dazzled a sparkling silver. It was crafted carefully by the Mushrooms, with a triangular roof and sculpted golden stars rising on white pillars on it. At the entrance were three marble steps, on either side similar golden stars and deep inside the shrine, Tubba could see seven marble pillars spread equidistant from one another, and a painted roof of something Tubba couldn’t make out. “The Star Spirit Shrine...” Galmajo whispered in awe. The yellow-robed Magikoopa’s eyes glinted with sheer, reverential awe. He took a few paces toward the shrine, before walking up the three steps into the entrance, taking a long look at the white marble of the shrine roof above his head. “You know this place?” Tubba asked Galmajo, feeling Gonzales’ body shift awkwardly on his shell. Repositioning the body, he couldn’t help but admire the amount of effort that had been put into the Shrine, even if he didn’t understand it’s purpose. “Everyone has,” sighed Dibby with impatience. “The Star Spirit Shrine is one of the most magical places in the world. Legend has it that the Star Spirits descend from the sky to this place, to grant the wishes of those who revere them.” “Then they’re the people I want to talk to.” Tubba said with determination, pushing past Galmajo, a new energy in his steps as he strode up into the shrine. There was a small hallway, with only railings on either side stopping Tubba from stumbling into the fountains on either side before the area opened up in a heptagonal shape, a white marble pillar at each point of the shape, and the water of the fountains between the raised platform and the wall. A voice issued from seemingly nowhere, as Galmajo and Dibby drew next to Tubba. “We know why you are here... we cannot help you.” The voice had a soft, ephemeral quality to it, and a genuine note of remorse. Glaring around, Tubba snarled at one of the white marble pillars. “You cannot help!? What good are Star Spirits when they can’t do what is most important? Revive Gonzales?” He slammed Karubba’s club angrily into the ground. The voice came again, strong and powerful, echoing around the whole shrine, but disembodied. “If it was any other creature than a Clubba, we may be able resurrect him to the undead state... and yet, would you really want that? Not even the great Star Spirits can revive a person from the dead, to make him living again...” The voice trailed off, getting quieter and quieter. It was if Gonzales died a second time. “NO!” Tubba screamed, slamming Karubba’s club into the ground, time and time and time again, ignoring as he chipped away at the carefully built marble. Galmajo rested his scaled hand on Tubba’s shoulder, but Tubba shrugged it off in anger, the body of Gonzales falling limply from his back. “Tubba, wait!” Galmajo rested his hand on his shoulder again. “Look at what’s above us!” Tubba looked up at Galmajo’s request, for the first time, to the red backdrop of the inner shrine roof. Splayed around it were the silhouettes of all the Mushroom World species, from Clubbas, to humans, to Snifits, to Firebreath Koopas, to Electro-Koopas, to Bloopers... all of them, spread across the roof in a mosaic of sorts. “Look at the Clubba!” The Clubba was glowing blue. It was near the bottom of the mosaic, so almost on the wall directly ahead of Tubba. He whisked past the marble pillar, landing with a splash in the water. Splashing over to the Clubba, he placed his red hand on it, curious. As he put his red hand to it, it glowed a deeper blue. Galmajo dropped next to him, curious. Tubba saw him exchange a glance with Dibby out of the corner of his eye. “I’ve read about this,” he said after a brief pause. “The legend of the Star Spirit Shrine; the ability to communicate with those who have passed, once, briefly.” Tubba leaned closer to the Clubba, and in the process, nudged it with the head of Karubba’s club. Instantly, the Clubba turned deeper blue, before a roar echoed through Tubba’s ears, the roar of wind whipping around him, his eyes exploded with sparks of blue and white light, the water around him splashed ferociously as he fell backwards, away from the Clubba silhouette. As the lights cleared, Tubba saw something he thought he’d never see. Glowing with a supernatural blue light, his image wavering as if he was seeing him through water, Tubba was staring at his father once again, for the first time in sixteen years. “Dad...” he eked out, his voice caught with emotion. “How?” That was the only question he could process, to know how his father was standing in front of him, even if falsely, for the first time in half his life. “Tubba!” The watery image of his father boomed with pride. Tubba let his eyes roam over his father, looking exactly the way he did the day he died. The strong, blue arms hunched over as he walked, the dark black natural “mask” around his light orange eyes, having the glint of playfulness as he addressed his son, the flowing mane of white hair on his head, the purple belly... it was if he had never gone. “You’ve grown so strong,” his father’s face softened. “I’ve watched you.” “Are you a ghost?” Tubba asked, knowing that it was a question a child would ask. “What are you? How are you here? I know Clubbas - we cannot come back as ghosts, or anything undead, we’re not magical enough.” He had to see if there was a way to keep his father here, staying in the mortal realm with him. “I am neither a ghost, by consequence, undead, nor am I living. I am passed, Tubba.” Those were the words Tubba had never wished to hear, but he was always dreading his father would say. “I can talk to you, for a few brief minutes, this once, through the power of the most magical place on the planet, and the action of both my father and my eldest son touching the Clubba mark that adorns these walls.” Tubba was confused. “Your son and your father?” Tubba shook his head with disbelief, looking at the watery image of his father, who was clearly positive in what he said, judging by the confident way he held his arms and how he held his head high. “Dad, you’ve got that all wrong - Karubba died forty years ago.” His father shook his head, to Tubba’s cynicism. “No, Tubba. Karubba has been closer to you than you could’ve ever imagined.” Tubba was vaguely aware of Galmajo and Dibby by his side, watching his father with equal intent. “Karubba has not ceased existing, not like me, not like your mother. No, Tubba. He lives on in the very club you hold.” Bursting out laughing, Tubba held up Karubba’s club. He didn’t mean to laugh, but it was so far-fetched. Karubba had died in a military ambush in 1982, forcing Tubba’s father to ascend the throne at a young age. Just because Tubba had the club he died on the battlefield with didn’t mean Karubba was still alive. “I mean... Dad, does dying turn you senile?” He deadpanned. A flash of anger echoed through his father’s eyes. “Tubba! This secret has been concealed among the royal family for many years. I always meant to tell you, but of course, I died prematurely. Karubba did not die on the battlefield.” Tubba Sr. began, his voice softening as he realized Tubba was paying rapt attention. “Eighteen years before Bowser attempted to steal the Star Rod, succeeded and failed to recognize the immense power it possessed, wishing for only menial things, my father tried the same. He tried to claim the Star Rod. By force.” “He failed, obviously.” Tubba’s father continued before he could say anything. “But not the way Bowser failed. I was the only one who accompanied Karubba, for he failed to trust any member of the family except me. He got as far as the place where the Star Rod was kept, and I watched this scene from the hallway just before.” Tubba reconciled the idea of the powerful war King with the King trying to take the Star Rod. It made sense. Karubba would do anything to gain an edge. “Karubba, of everyone in our family, was the purest evil that we Clubbas have conceived. A week before his mother, Nefubba, was to renew treaties with the other Kingdoms in 1960... he told me this story...” his father sighed, “Karubba told me that his mother hadn’t died naturally. No, Karubba had her jailed against her will, and did the deed himself. His evil soul was unprepared for the amount of good wishes he would feel when he picked up the Star Rod.” “He picked up the Star Rod, and he immediately felt seized by the power. The amount of magical essence racing through him was far more than any Clubba had ever felt.” Tubba I spoke quick and fast, as if eager to get the story over with, his watery limbs shaking. “It destabilized the very energy of his life, the very energy every species holds deep inside, tearing him apart. Flashes of white light, sparks of blue, echoes of orange blazed through the sky above him as I saw his very skin melt. The energy searched, searched for a place to be stabilized, and found the only thing Karubba had brought next to the Star Rod. His club.” His father paused, as Tubba ran over what he had heard. Karubba... the most evil Clubba of the royal family. “The energy interred itself in his club, all of it. He was vaporized. But, I could tell... Karubba hadn’t died - no, his life energy went on living, inside the very club he had held. When I went to pick it up, I felt swamped by power, countless emotions, but prominently rage.” “I know why you have come, Tubba.” The light blue Clubba ahead of him gestured to the body of Gonzales. “The meaning of this story is not to absolve you of your role in the death of Bubba - regardless of the emotions you feel prominently because of Karubba’s club, you did that yourself - but to help you revive your friend. I am here to tell you that Karubba’s club is full of forty years’ worth of magical essence, festering and growing inside Karubba’s club, waiting for the day Karubba can break out and become himself again - sixty years from now. More magical energy than anything else has ever had, yet undetectable by the instruments you have today.” Tubba held up the club of his grandfather. Did this unremarkable club really have all of that? “So, how does this help me and Gonzales? How much energy do we need?” “Accomplish two things at once, Tubba.” His father’s eyes sparkled. “First, prevent the return of Karubba to his mortal body, and crack the club over your friend Gonzales. The amount of magical power racing over him will be more than any living creature has ever felt. It will revive him, as well as purging Karubba’s essence from existence.” “Wait.” Tubba spoke clearly, holding the club up. “I can see you’re wavering,” he pointed at his father’s phantomic image. “You don’t have much time. Before I do this, father...” he glanced at Dibby and Galmajo standing beside him. “Can you bring my mother... to see me?” It was a longing Tubba had never felt before. Tubba had never seen his mother, for she died two days after he and Chubba were born. He had always wondered if his life would’ve been different if his mother was with him. He was prepared for his father’s shape to say no, but he was shocked when the words: “Yes. For a few seconds,” tumbled from his father’s mouth. Before Tubba could do anything, the white lights and blue sparks were corcusating again, the water was splashing in protest, before... it all dissipated, and Tubba was looking at a small green Clubba, her orange lips cracking into a large smile, her white belly wavering like Tubba’s father - even more, he realized. Mother. Tubba was cognizant of who this Clubba was. “Mother.” He wrenched out, lost in her eyes. This was the parent he had never had. “It hurts me... every day, to see you and Chubba fight, quarrel, and care less and less for each other.” His mother echoed weakly - Tubba could see her shape flickering in and out of existence. “I cannot bear to see you fight again, Tubba. You’re my eldest... you’re the wise one. Please, Tubba.” She pleaded with him. “Don’t fight with your brother again.” Tubba couldn’t reply. He could see his parents flickering, flickering... and then they were gone. Turning around, refusing to let Galmajo and Dibby see his tears, he climbed onto the raised platform where Gonzales’ body lay. “Don’t worry, mother.” Tubba growled darkly. “The next time we fight will be the last one.” With that, he cracked Karubba's club on his knee, his mind exploding into sounds echoing loudly like thunder and sights of colours spinning, spinning and spinning.